Sanofi-Aventis cutting 300 from NJ offices

Associated PressPlavix, which Sanofi-Aventis markets with Bristol-Myers Squibb, is among the medicines that is scheduled to go off patent. The prospect of lost revenues is leading Sanofi-Aventis to cut 1,700 positions in the U.S.

Sanofi-Aventis, the French drug maker with U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, said it will cut 1,700 jobs from its U.S. commercial pharmaceutical operations.

At least 300 people working in such areas as marketing, finance and IT at the company’s offices in Bridgewater are expected to be among the cuts. The majority of the jobs — an estimated 1,400 people — will be cut from the company’s field operations across the country.

The U.S. cuts represent about one percent of the drug maker’s global workforce of 105,000 people.

Sanofi-Aventis is facing some of the same business hurdles as its U.S. rivals, including the anticipated impact from healthcare reform on drug pricing and patent expirations on a number of its top-selling medicines.

Over the next few years, the company expects to see its revenues for colon cancer drug Eloxitan and blood-thinning medicine Plavax drop dramatically as lower-priced generic medicines arrive on the market.

“Given the serious challenges facing our organization and the healthcare industry, it is important to act decisively now so that our organization has greater stability moving forward,’’ said Gregory Irace, president and chief executive officer of the company’s pharmaceutical operations in the U.S. and Canada.

The U.S. pharmaceutical operations division is responsible for developing and marketing the company’s medicines. It employs just over half of the company’s U.S. workforce of 13,000.